Midnight Sun
– Kaoru was suffering from xeroderma pigmentosum (XP), an illness, which also might be described as th..
Kaoru was suffering from xeroderma pigmentosum (XP), an illness, which also might be described as the allergy to the sun, and was not allowed to be exposed to sunlight. The only motivation in her life was singing, which also was the only connection to the outside world.One day, an incident drastically changes her life. Kaoru returns home at 4:00 am, before sunrise. Outside her room window, she spots a high school student standing with a surf board in his hands. It becomes her routine to watch him and his friends come and go to the ocean every morning, before going to sleep. Their destined encounter takes place during the few hours before the break of day, drawing together two individuals that would have never met in daylight.
17 Jun 2006
Japanese
Norihiro Koizumi
Kenji Bando
Yui, Takashi Tsukamoto, Kuniko Asagi, Eri Fuse
Kaoru dreamily gazes from her bedroom window each morning just before dawn. She can see a stretch of the beach in front of her parent's house on a hill in Kamakura, but focuses upon the activity at the bus stop where Koji and his two best friends meet before going surfing. The appearance of the sun causes her to lowers the blinds and go to sleep for she suffers from Xeroderma Pigmentosum (XP) and exposure to the sun's rays has had the potential to kill her. At night she walks to the train station, plays her guitar and sings songs she has written, commonly returning home just a few minutes before it starts getting light. One morning she is at the bus stop singing when Koji arrives. Liking the song she was singing, he promises to go and listen to her perform as a street musician the first day of summer vacation but finds a loud and off-key man has occupied her spot. Koji improvises and takes her to Yokahama on his motor bike where her singing immediately draws a crowd. Koji marvels at her extraordinary future, whereas he muses at his ordinary nature as he asks to be her boyfriend. But she breaks up almost immediately as the rising sun reminds her that she cannot live a normal life. Koji tries and make amends after being sought out by her father, and starts to earn the 200,000 yen needed to pay for a studio session and production of a CD of Kaoru's songs. As she practices on her guitar, she finds her fingers becoming immobilized, the first sign that neurological damage from the disease is progressing.
1 nomination.